WND EXCLUSIVE

CHRISTIANS CHALLENGED TO USE 'PRIMARY WEAPON'

New Joel Richardson movie shows 'God moving' In Middle East

Globally, Christianity is in retreat, as the number of Muslims swells and the civilization once called Christendom is taken over by secularism. 

But New York Times best-selling author, scriptural teacher and filmmaker Joel Richardson has a message for Christians – put aside your fear of men and use the Gospel to revolutionize your world.

In a recent interview with Susan Knowles, Richardson issued a passionate challenge to believers worldwide to preach the truth of the Scriptures, no matter how hard it seems.

“As Christians, we need to realize that the primary weapon, the primary tool that the Lord has given us is a message called the Gospel which changes people individually, one person at a time, from the inside out,” 

Richardson said. “And so, as Christians in the United States, we have been primarily focused on politics. We think that the main way we are going to change the world is by getting the right guy into office, righteous judges, righteous laws. 

We think that if we impose righteous laws onto a bunch of pagans, that’s going to make the world better.

“But the pattern that the Lord has given us is that we proclaim this message of the Gospel. We boldly go out and share the Gospel despite the hatred and the resistance of the world. And we see people, we even see pagans, transformed.

“We need to understand the Kingdom of God, the approach Jesus has given us, is inside out, it’s upside down, and from the ground up, one heart at a time.”

Richardson is best known as the author of the smash New York Times bestseller “The Islamic Antichrist,” as well as a number of other penetrating books and films.

But his latest movie, “The Global Jesus Revolution,” is based on the most explosive premise of all. Set largely in the Middle East and featuring interviews with underground Christian leaders who are risking their lives every day for their faith, Richardson reveals how “God is moving in the world” as events like the Arab Spring and the war against the Islamic State dominate the headlines.

In his interview with Knowles, Richardson explained the origin of “The Global Jesus Revolution.”

“The Arab Spring was really exploding across the Middle East and my idea was to travel to those nations really being affected by all that was unfolding, really to hear from the primary leaders in those nations, in the churches,” he recalled. 

“And really to ask, ‘What is God doing in the midst of all this?’ Because this is something we often forget. We look at the news from the surface, from the perspective of the news, and we don’t often discern what God is doing behind the scenes.

“As believers, we know when things like ISIS take place, when revolutions take place, God uses those things. 

Historically, He always uses those things for His own greater good. It doesn’t always look like what is affecting the world is always positive, but God always sees to it that His Kingdom is advanced through these things. 

So the idea was to talk to the leaders in the global church to see what is going on.”

There’s a revolution underway the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the Christian faith. Joel Richardson takes you inside the most important development sweeping the globe today, “The Global Jesus Revolution.” And it’s available NOW from the WND Superstore.

Richardson spoke eloquently of the suffering and sacrifices of Christians in the Middle East. 

However, he also said the chaos in the region is actually opening the way for Christian missionaries to win converts.

“In the midst of all of the chaos and the difficulty, there are incredible opportunities.” he said. “People’s hearts in moments of crisis are incredibly open … 

there are now more Muslims coming to faith than at any time in history.”

“The Global Jesus Revolution” provides an incredible behind the scenes look at this amazing, and perhaps historic development in the Muslim world. 

But it also contains a challenge for Western Christians – put evangelism first.

“I would say, as a church, by and large, we’re not doing that,” Richardson said. “We’re not putting prayer first. We’re not putting the Gospel first. We’re not sharing the Gospel. We’re not evangelizing. We’re very vocal when it comes to fighting over politics and pushing for various military solutions. 

But I believe that we have our priorities entirely wrong … we’re not putting the completion of the Great Commission and the proclamation of the Gospel first.”

In contrast, Richardson says prayer is at the heart of the religious transformation taking place in the Middle East. And he argues it takes only a hard core of believers to transform an entire society.

“It only takes a small number to transform a nation,” Richardson claims. “I used Egypt as an example. They are praying now and they are seeing revival unlike any time in history. Radical stories of Muslims and cultural Christians coming to faith. And here we are in the United States where we are the majority. We are not praying and we are losing our kids and losing our nation. And in many ways, we need to look to Egypt today, and look to the early church as an example, and get back to that early revolutionary spirit that saw the world turned upside-down.

“We are the true revolutionaries in this present age. We need to remember how truly revolutionary our gospel is.”

Richardson calls for Christians to send “prayer support” to Middle Eastern Christians and recommit themselves to spiritual warfare. In a particularly bracing comparison, Richardson pointed out the differing reception a young man gets if he says he is joining the Army compared to preaching the Gospel in a dangerous place like Iraq.

“It’s not celebrated if someone goes as a missionary, but it’s celebrated if someone joins the military,” said Richardson.

Richardson also called for Christians not to water down their message or try to compromise with the culture. Instead, he believes a forthright message will produce committed believers who will have a cultural and spiritual impact far beyond their numbers.

“If we got back to proclaiming a hard message, we might have smaller numbers but we’ll have more effective people,” he said. “Ten revolutionaries will change a city far more than 30,000 shallow Christians. That’s just a fact and history proves that. We shouldn’t be going for the large ‘big tent’ message; we should be going for deep roots.”

Richardson warned Christians will be hated even if they represent Jesus perfectly, just as Christ was hated. But he said the challenge of winning souls all around the world is a moral necessity, and believers must be willing to overcome the fear of embarrassment, the fear of failure and even the fear of death.

And he has a haunting question for all those who call themselves Christians: “Are we more concerned with saving people from hell or what people think about us?”

There’s a revolution underway the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the Christian faith. Joel Richardson takes you inside the most important development sweeping the globe today, “The Global Jesus Revolution.” And it’s available NOW from the WND Superstore.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/christians-challenged-to-use-primary-weapon/#uV04CC2rmPhALU6R.99

My comments: We Praise God for what He is doing around the World. God has but One Purpose in Everything He does, and that is to Save All who will Believe the TRUTH. America is currently Under Siege by the godless, Socialist, Secular Humanists who are attempting to CONVERT the Nation to their godless RELIGION. This Cultural Pressure is causing Many to Fall Away from Faith in Chrsit Jesus. It is Critical that every Christian Oppose this Cultural Pressure and Stand for Chrsit and His Word. Christians should Exit the godless Public Schools that are sending America's Children and Youth to HELL. Christians must Stand for God and His Righteousness wherever they are and however they can.